NHL assistant coach Jim Playfair 'disturbed' by news of alleged death threat to son

Tieja MacLaughlin, 25, of Kelowna, was arrested on Saturday in Kennewick, Wash., over allegations she threatened to kill her boyfriend, a junior hockey player for the Tri-City Americans.

Photograph by: @Tieja_Mac
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CALGARY — Jim Playfair was understandably shocked by the news.

"Yes, it's very disturbing," said the former head coach of the Calgary Flames, currently associate coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, whose hockey-playing son Jackson is dealing with an alleged death threat made by his girlfriend.

"I found out about it last night and we're dealing with it this morning. We have to get to the bottom of a couple of things — the depth of the threats, for one.

"Society's different now. You've got to pay attention to these things. You can't just let them slide. As team do, they (the Americans) kept it internal as long as they could. I talked to Jackson last night and he's understandably unsettled."

Tieja McLaughlin, 25, a Canadian news reporter, appeared Tuesday in Benton County District Court in Washington on an investigative hold for felony threat. McLaughlin is alleged to have made the threats while talking on the phone with Playfair's son Jackson, 19, a forward with the WHL Tri-City Americans.

According to Kennewick police documents, Jackson told police that he has been in a dating relationship with McLaughlin since July, but admitted "it has been a rocky one." McLaughlin, a freelance reporter for two media outlets in Kelowna, allegedly made the threats after discovering Playfair had been dating someone else.

Police reportedly met with McLaughlin at a Kennewick, Wash., hotel and told her she would be arrested if she did not stop contacting Playfair. At the time, she promised she would stay away from him and return to Canada. McLaughlin then allegedly sent him text messages to meet him at the hotel. Police told Playfair to tell her he would be there and then went and arrested her.

McLaughlin has denied making the threats.

"Jackson has confidence in the hockey team, the staff, (GM) Bob Tory, (coach) Jim Hiller and the police are all there, dealing with it," said Jim Playfair. "He has plenty of people to help him.